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Federal immigration authorities have agreed to allow outside groups more freedom to conduct telephone medical screenings of detained illegal immigrants to help them make their asylum cases.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in an agreement approved by a federal judge Wednesday, said it will not hinder telephone-based mental exams for illegal immigrant women and children being kept at two detention facilities.

ICE also agreed to let a legal assistant working with the illegal immigrants back into one of the facilities in Texas.

The case is the latest battle between Homeland Security and immigrant-rights activists who say illegal immigrants are being treated poorly while stuck in detention awaiting their deportation or asylum case proceedings.

The activists said ICE instituted a new policy in May requiring pre-approval before doctors could administer a telephone mental exam, and used that policy to kick out the legal assistant whod been orchestrating the calls.

ICE denied it was doing anything wrong, but has agreed to restore access for legal assistant, Caroline Perris, and said it would allow telephonic evaluations.

ICE did say authorities wont let a request for a telephone evaluation interfere with a deportation, nor would it guarantee the detainees would always be available.

However, ICE will not take actions for the purpose of interfering with a residents availability to participate in a telephonic medical evaluation, the agency said in the agreement.

Neither ICE nor the managing attorney for the Dilley Pro Bono Project, the lead plaintiff in the case, returned messages seeking comment.

The South Texas Family Residential Center and the Karnes County Residential Center, which is also in Texas, were created to hold the large number of illegal immigrant families that began streaming across the border in 2014.

Usually mothers and children, the migrants were coming from Central America to the U.S., hoping to gain a foothold here amid relaxed enforcement from the Obama administration.

Activists have tried to shutter the facilities, saying those being detained have often fled rough conditions in their home countries and should be treated as refugees in need of care and comfort.

Many of those being held are making asylum claims citing their lives back home, and activists say the mental exams are a critical part of proving those cases.

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Feds agree to mental evaluations for illegal immigrants seeking asylum - Washington Times

The American Bar Association (ABA) has voted to allow immigrants in the US illegally to take state bar exams in order to become licensed lawyers. The standard is already in effect in seven states, with the resolution providing guidance for others.

The American Bar Association supports the principle that bar admission should not be denied based solely on immigration status,stated the ABAs House of Delegates resolution, passed Monday at its annual meeting.

The ABA suggests the resolution should be passed into state law. In its current form, the resolution isnt enforceable, but it makes clear that the federal government should not get in the way of states granting a legal license to a candidate who passes the bar exam, even if they are in the country illegally.

It provides guidance to courts and legislatures who are grappling with this [issue], and overall Congress itself, to say the legal profession approves of this, attorneyCesar Vargas told RT.

Mexican-born Vargas is a participant in the Obama's administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals(DACA) program. He went through a four-year legal battle to open the admission of "undocumented immigrants" into the legal profession.

Thomas Kim, whose South Korean parents brought him to the United States on a tourist visa and then never returned home, sponsored the resolution. Kim said he faces an uncertain future, as it is still unclear if he'll be eligible to practice law in Oregon after he earns his law degree from Arizona State University in 2018.

Kim won a full-time scholarship to study an undergraduate degree and won a full tuition merit scholarship to study law at Arizona State University.

I am wanting to become a lawyer. I am wanting to become a lawyer who gives back to his community and gives back to this country that has been so generous to him. So I ask for your support, pleaded Kim in a video posted by the ABA.

This is nothing new. This is in total alignment with what the ABA has been doing since conception of its origin commitment to diversity, commitment to equality and commitment to fairness, he added.

Opposing the resolution was a delegate from the State Bar of Georgia.

"I would love to call them brothers and sisters of law but as lawyers we are tasked with upholding the rule of law. How can we uphold the law by supporting those who are violating the law to join our profession? argued John R. B. Long.

Even if the resolution was to pass, Long said, individuals who clear the state bar will not be able to find employment with the government, and will have difficulty getting hired by most law firms.

The practical effect is that you will be giving false hope to people who will take out a tremendous amount of debt as an undocumented alien, go to law school, sit for the bar, and be unemployable. For these reasons I disagree and ask that the board vote against this resolution, Long said.

So far, seven states have either allowed illegal immigrants to become lawyers, or made changes to the law to allow such a provision.

California passed a law in 2013 to allow some illegal immigrants to practice law. Florida officials facilitated the process for the Mexican-born Jose Godinez-Samperio to become a lawyer in 2014. Vargas was admitted to the New York state bar in 2016.

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When it comes to such people finding employment, Vargas told RT that the law is malleable.

It depends on the state agency. I could work for the Mayors office, I could work for a city council member but I couldnt work for the District Attorney because you have to be a citizen, Vargas said. Even without DACA you could set up your own law firm. Law is creative and unfortunately I think some people think of it as a very academic issue, but legally there are creative ways to achieve the same results.

DACA is a deportation relief and work permission program created by the Obama administration. It first accepted applicants in 2012 from immigrants who arrived to the US as minors and did not have citizenship status.

Under the program, 800,000 people were granted protection from deportation, but it is a temporary benefit that needs to be renewed every two years.

The Trump administration has kept the program in place but the deadline for its renewal is September 5; and ten states are threatening to take the administration to court unless it ends DACA.

People like myself, I spent a decade being undocumented but during that time I went to college, went to law school, people started business, become licensed professionals, and if anything this reaffirms our commitment towards a permanent legislative solution, Vargas told RT.

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American Bar Association to allow illegal immigrants to become lawyers - RT

In a 23-page report by the U.N. Human Rights Council, Trump is requested to set free all foreign nationals who are currently awaiting immigration hearings in the United States, Reuters reported.

The Working Group is of the view that all administrative detention, in particular of immigrants in an irregular situation, should be in accordance with international human rights law; and that such detention is to be a measure of last resort, necessary and proportionate and be not punitive in nature, and that alternatives to detention are to be sought whenever possible, the panel said.

Every year, according to the U.N., more than 350,000 illegal aliens and foreign refugees are held in detention in the U.S. as they await immigration court hearings. Those illegal aliens and foreign refugees are held so the program is not susceptible to foreign nationals fleeing throughout the U.S., ignoring court dates.

Under the panels request, those foreign nationals would be released into the public as they await their hearings, similar to that of former President Obamas Catch and Release program where illegal aliens are released until an immigration hearing.

The U.N. panel also opposed Trumps immigration executive order which cracks down on illegal immigration, specifically illegal aliens charged with violent crimes against Americans.

According to the panel, they are concerned that illegal aliens in the U.S. are subject to U.S. federal immigration law, which makes all persons illegally in the country eligible for detention and deportation.

Under the order, apprehended individuals may be detained on suspicion of violating federal or state law, which includes unauthorized entry, the U.N. panel said.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at@JxhnBinder.

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UN to Trump: Stop Detaining Illegal Aliens - Breitbart News

Given his reputation as a hard-liner on illegal immigration and his history of calling former President Barack Obamas birth certificate into question, its unsurprising that President Donald Trump has an affinity with Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona.

The 85-year-old Arpaio has styled himself as Americas Toughest Sheriffa sobriquet that forms part of the title of his autobiographical books publishedin 1996 and 2008and has garnered a reputation for a tough stance on crime, but he has also faced accusations of racial profiling.

Trump, who repeatedly positioned himself as the law-and-order candidate in the 2016 presidential campaign, appears to have a lot of respect for Arpaio. So much so, in fact, that the president is considering pardoning Arpaios recent conviction for criminal contempt in what would be the first presidential pardon of Trumps tenure.

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ThenSheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, endorses Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump before a rally in Marshalltown, Iowa, on January 26, 2016. Scott Olson/Getty

I am seriously considering a pardon for Sheriff Arpaio, Trump told Fox NewsSunday. He has done a lot in the fight against illegal immigration. Hes a great American patriot, and I hate to see what has happened to him.

Read more: Inside the fall of Joe Arpaio, America's most controversial sheriff

Arpaios legal struggles relate to his 24-year tenure as Maricopa County sheriff between 1993 and 2016. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Italian immigrant parents, Arpaio had a short career in the U.S. military before becoming a police officer. He was first elected as sheriff in 1992 and was re-elected a further five times before finally losing out to Democrat Paul Penzone in November 2016.

Arpaio was famous for using controversial tactics on criminals during his time as sheriff, including issuing all prisoners with pink underwear to stop released inmates from stealing the clothes. He also set up the so-called Tent City, an outdoor facility consisting of surplus military tents from the Korean War that were used to house hundreds of inmates to cope with overcrowding in the Arizona prison system. Temperatures in the tents during summer would often reach triple digits, and the facility has prompted condemnation and protests from human rights activists. (Penzone said in April that he would shut down Tent City.)

An inmate held inside Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Maricopa County Tent City jail carries his laundry in Phoenix on May 3, 2010. PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty

Arpaio also led a probe by a volunteer group named the Cold Case Posse into the authenticity of Obamas birth certificate. Arpaio concluded in 2012 that, despite the White House releasing Obamas long-form birth certificate in 2011which led some so-called birthers, including Trump, to tone down their rhetoricthe certificate may have been made by forgery and fraud.

During his time as sheriff, Arpaio also faced a wealth of legal controversies and battles. These included his offices failure to investigate hundreds of sex crimes allegedly committed between 2005 and 2007. In one particularly controversial case, Arpaios office botched an investigation into the 2007 rape of then-13-year-old Sabrina Morrison by her uncle Patrick Morrison; it wasnt until 2012 that Patrick Morrison was convicted and sentenced to 24 years in prison after multiple failings by the sheriff's office. Maricopa County agreed toa $3.5 million settlement with Sabrina Morrison in 2015 after she sued for $30 million.

But Arpaios downfall ultimately came as a result of his actions on immigration. The Justice Department announced in 2012 that it was suing Arpaio, his office and Maricopa County for the long-term racial profiling of Latinos.

Arpaio was well-known for conducting sweeps of Latino neighborhoods and detaining Spanish speakers on suspicion of being undocumented migrants. In 2011, a court ordered him to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. But Arpaio continued with the patrols for a further year and a half, and he was convicted of criminal contempt in July. Arpaio maintains that he had misunderstood the 2011 order, but prosecutors argued that he used the patrols to boost his bid for re-election as sheriff in 2012.

An effigy showing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in handcuffs is paraded in a student protest in downtown Phoenix on November 8, 2016. Nancy Wiechec/Reuters

Arpaio is due to be sentenced in October and could face up to six months in prison, but Trumps comments indicate that he may be set to get a reprieve. Is there anyone in local law enforcement who has done more to crack down on illegal immigration than Sheriff Joe? Trump asked Fox News. He has protected people from crimes and saved lives. He doesnt deserve to be treated this way.

Civil rights and Latino groups have criticized the possibility of a pardon for Arpaio. Cecilia Wang, deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, told NBC News that if Trump pardoned Arpaio, it would constitute an official presidential endorsement of racism.

But given the close relationship between the two menArpaio endorsed Trump on the campaign trail, and Trump reportedly spoke to Arpaios wife by telephone after learning she had cancerit looks likeTrump couldbe about to step into controversy once more if he exercisesthe presidential pardon.

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Who Is Joe Arpaio, 'America's Toughest Sheriff' and the Man President Trump Wants to Pardon? - Newsweek

by Boris Epshteyn, Chief Political Analyst

This maps shows cities and counties that are considered "sanctuaries" for undocumented immigrants. (Center for Immigration Studies / Google Maps) 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Boris Epshteyn formerly served as a Senior Advisor to the Trump Campaign and served in the White House as Special Assistant to The President and Assistant Communications Director for Surrogate Operations.

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) - We are a country of laws.

Cities across the country cannot choose which federal laws to follow and which to ignore.

Sanctuary cities are those that actively do not cooperate with the federal governments efforts to enforce immigration law.

President Trump signed an executive order back in January that would strip federal funding from sanctuary cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Baltimore.

That is millions of dollars at stake for these communities that, in many cases, desperately need it. Perhaps this monetary squeeze will cause for these cities to comply with federal immigration law.

Of course, there has been some push back from the cities.

Local officials argue that by maintaining their sanctuary city status, they are making their communities safer and helping their local economy.

Chicago has even filed a lawsuit pushing to be able to keep sanctuary status and federal money, funded by you, the tax payer.

Talk about trying to have your cake and eat it, too.

I believe sanctuary cities are a shield for illegal immigrants to stay in this country illegally and to commit other crimes.

We can look at the murder of Kate Steinle as an example. She was shot and killed while walking in San Francisco with her father. The man accused of the shooting, who is about to stand trial, is an illegal immigrant and a convicted felon, who was deported from the U.S. five times. San Francisco, as a sanctuary city, released him months before the shooting instead of turning him over to federal authorities before the shooting.

The bottom line is this. Sanctuary cities should not exist because they promote lawlessness and incentivize illegal immigration. Federal law has to be followed and if it is not, these cities will face dire financial consequences. A decision by any sanctuary city to forego federal funds in order to continue supporting illegal immigration would be absolutely unfair to US citizens and legal immigrants residing there.

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Opinion: Cities providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants should lose federal funding - WJLA